482 
LAMENESS IN HORSES. 
the foot is inclosed being one single, bard, resisting case, insus- 
ceptible of expansion — in his own words, “ qui n’est pas susceptible 
de ceder ” — and from the foot, in consequence, being more likely to 
breed such a malady than one that is cleft or divided after the 
fashion of the hoof of the didactyle. 
The fore are the Feet commonly attacked by Laminitis. 
Otherwise, all four feet are usually seized, simultaneously, with 
the disease. The hind feet, to the exemption of the fore, rarely 
suffer. The late Mr. John Field relates two cases* of such an occur- 
rence. And Hurtrel D’Arbovalt has detailed the symptoms of 
laminitis in the hind feet, as distinguished from those charac- 
teristic of the disease of the fore. I have had an example of the 
disease in one fore foot to the exclusion of the remaining three ; 
and in the progress of the case the coffin-bone protruded through 
the horny sole; notwithstanding its fellow (fore) foot remained 
sound. 
For the reason why the fore rather than the hind feet should 
become obnoxious to laminitis we must revert to the larger pro- 
portion of the burthen they have to support, the weight of the head 
and neck being added to that of half the body, and also to the 
concussion they sustain in action, as compared with that undergone 
by the hind feet. When horses are standing on board of ship — 
a situation in which the disease, or the predisposition to it at least, 
has strongly marked itself — from rocking about with the motion of 
the ship, the fore limbs, as props and stays to the body, are under- 
going more than the hind ; and their duty under such circumstances 
becomes, if long continued, both laborious and painful, in which 
condition the disease, or the aptitude to take it, ensues. The 
battering the fore feet receive in action, and particularly when they 
come flat down upon the ground, is a strong reason for their greater 
susceptibility to disease than the hind, the force of whose tread 
under exertion is sustained principally by the toe of the foot. 
The Breed of Horse and Kind of Foot most liable to take 
the disease, from my own observation, 1 should pronounce to be 
the under-bred horse and cart-horse, possessing the characteristic 
foot of the family, viz. the flat, broad, spreading foot. When high- 
bred horses, having upright oblong feet, become attacked with 
laminitis, there generally exists some manifest exciting cause. 
This is a point, however, on which there is some wide difference 
of opinion : D’Arboval asserting that the narrow foot, clothed with 
a hard, tough, compact hoof, is the most susceptible, while Giraud 
is of the same opinion as myself ; remarking, however, that when- 
ever the disease does attack the strong foot, it is more painful to 
* In his “ Posthumous Veterinary Records.” 
f In his “ Dictionnaire Vet^rinaire article fonrloure. 
